Thursday, January 21, 2010

60 miles. Victor Falls - So Prairie - Orting and back. One monsterclimb out of Sumner (regrouping at the top of the hill) thenrelatively flat. Those who do not want to climb can stay on thelowlands and meet up with us in So Prairie. The pace will be a base pace and easy on the hill working on strength.

Pending weather conditions the ride will have two hot spots. One going out at the Puyallup Town Line on Levee Road and then coming back at the Fife Town Line. Town lines will be called out ahead of timewith a safe/not safe.

Save some energy for Sunday's Ride! Don't let Victor Falls Get you
down (Sorry Joel).

We will be meeting at Susanne's @ 9AM for some Sunday fun. I haven't
mapped it out yet but it will be a Port Orchard Loop (50-70 miles
depending if you ride from T-Town) with 2-3 "hot spots" for sprints
and climbs. No drop policy. Good times, Tempo Pace Zone 2-4.
Fenders and Mud Flaps a must if there is even the slightest chance of
rain.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The GH Matt's will be leading our ride tomorrow from Susanne's Deli on Harborview Drive in GH @ 9AM, should be around a 3 hour ride from Susanne's and back and about 50-60 miles (no interval work, paceline rotations, sprints, or KOM's, just nice easy group riding...that will be next week!). Show up and ride the Port Orchard Loop with us and then find out what a W.D.O.B. is. Please chime in if you are coming so we know whether to wait for you or not. Don't forget your fenders, lights, and buddy flaps! Later!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

(Story Written by OTB Team mate Darol Tuttle. Thanks for sharing this, Darol.)

I was horrified to learn that a racer from the Starbucks Race Team was almost killed on Saturday. A King 5 Website described the accident as follows:

The Washington State Patrol is seeking witnesses to a bicycle accident on SR 202 east of Redmond Saturday that left a 49-year-old Seattle man seriously injured. The State Patrol says at 11:45 a.m., a group of about 10 bicyclists with the Starbucks Racing Team were traveling westbound on SR 202 near Ames Lake Road when one of the riders was forced off the road and into a ditch to avoid being hit head-on by a minivan.

Witnesses said the red minivan, possibly a newer model Honda Odyssey, was traveling eastbound at an extremely high rate of speed as it crossed the yellow center line and passed several eastbound vehicles while in the westbound lane.

The minivan forced the westbound bicyclist to take evasive action to avoid being struck.

This reported version sounds less alarming than the version reported to me by my former team mates. Starbucks Race Team, soon to be SCCA Race Team (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance), rode on the shoulder of SR 202. They only intended to use 202 as connector for a few miles. They, as typical of this well drilled team, rode in a rotating paceline, i.e., single file. The driver of a red van passed traffic coming from the opposite direction and veered over the fogline into the shoulder where the team road. According to a Starbucks team member, the driver “quite literally just about killing all of us in the pace line as he had drifted over the fog line into the shoulder while accelerating close to 70 mph. It was friggin scary.”

On the King 5 website, readers were able to post comments. Several of the readers’ comments are truly shocking. The first reader to comment, wrote “Give the guy a medal for trying to clear the road of irritating vermon.”

Another wrote “I would have more sympathy if bicycle riders did not act like they own the road. . . When you ride on a two lane road with no shoulder then you risk getting hit or run off the road. There are plenty of bike trails . . .”

The one that bugs me the most is this one: “Sorry people, but if the road was not built to accommodate bicycles then your taking your chances. Ride at your own risk.”

In the early 1900s, one of the most popular spectator sports in Americawas cycling. There were hundreds of velodromes across the nation. Thousands trekked to the races and cheered as enthusiastically for the racers as any Superbowl. Now, cyclists are “vermon”, worthy of being run down like dogs. There are clearly some who clearly believe that if someone kills or injures a cyclist, they should be given a medal.

What happened to the American respect for human effort? One answer is simply that Henry Ford invented the automobile. From that moment, the thrill of watching machines race with far less effort but at much greater speeds captivated America. Bicycle racing became a footnote.

I recently viewed two photos of Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. One was taken in the 1900s and the other by the Google Maps cameras recently. The architecture is the same. The lay out of the streets is the same. The difference is the girth of the people in the photos. People in the 1900s photos were rail thin. The people in the modern photos were, well, large. Let’s face it - Americans are becoming obese.

There are many causes of obesity in America but one of them is the automobile. At the time thin Americans enjoyed bike races, it took much more effort to do everything. Work was hard. Obtaining and preparing food took effort and there was far less of it. Today, we can literally drive our cars, stop at places that give us food in our cars and actually arrive at our destination with a net GAIN in calories.

The Starbucks rider who was almost killed was 49 years old. He has a broken left clavicle and rib along with fractured radius and a fractured wrist. Before he was injured, he was training with his team and burned, on average, 750 calories per hour. Had he not been injured, he would have been on his bike for at least three hours. He would have burned in this one training event as many calories as the caloric budget of the red minivan driver for the entire day. Yet, this is the guy who should get a medal?

Several days ago, an Al Queada operative attempted to ignite a bomb on a jet. It has been said to re-focus America’s efforts on the fight against terrorism. Several millions, if not billions of dollars, will no doubt be directed to Yemen to fight the extremists who are training there and planning new attacks on Americans.

In contrast, 2,973 people were killed on September 11, 2009. I am not comparing automobiles to terrorism but it is strange that Americans are essentially of like mind when it comes to fighting terror, yet 32,000 more American are killed every year by cars.

Cars have changed us. Our nation is different because of them. We are fatter because of them. Many of us are killed or injured because of them. Worse, they have changed our national character. Think of the last incidents you have had in the last year in which you felt incredible stress or extreme rage and chances are the incident involved a vehicle. Cars have made us obsessed with ease, convenience and speed to the point where it is more important to us than human life. Anyone who gets in our way is “vermon.” Here is a quote from a reader on the King 5 website: “I have no empathy for the riders who force everyone else to slow down for them as if they think they have the right.”

Weekend Training Ride Information (Please read if you are planning on riding with our team):

Typical ride lengths are 3-4 Hours and between 40-70 miles. The ride routes vary week to week. Ride pace is typically 17-18 mph (average) during the winter with an increase to 19-20+ mph (average) as the racing season picks up in early spring. There can also be several times during the ride where the pace picks up significantly (25 mph plus) followed by recovery periods. Thus, one can expect (and get) a very high quality workout. The group does recognize that different people are at differing stages in developing cycling fitness and/or group riding skills. The group has easy tempo periods where riders are able to reform into the group or times when group riding skills are practiced. Experienced riders are also happy to provide group riding, racing, and training guidance. The rides are usually followed by a rehydration and “bike bull” session at the nearby Cutters Point in Tacoma or Susannes coffee shop/deli in Gig Harbor.

You do not need to be a member of the Old Town Bicycle Road Race Team to participate and enjoy the OTB Saturday/Sunday rides. If you are planning on joining us please be sure to do the following:

1) If it's wet have fenders with a rear mud flap on the bike, 2) be sure your bike is in good mechanical condition---we recommend tire liners to reduce flats, 3) bring necessary energy bars and fluids to see you through the ride, 4) bring a spare tube(s), tire levers, pump or inflation device, 5) bring ID and money (plus a cell phone is a good idea), 6) dress for the weather---if it's wet/cold plan on a tight fitting rain jacket, booties, full gloves, and tights.6) Narrows Velo now requires all of our "guests" to sign a ride waiver/release form that can be obtained by the ride leader (if we don't have a signed waiver on file, you will not be able to participate).7) We urge you to adhere to the rules of the road and encourage safe and responsible riding. We want to have fun while on our training rides and additionally “keep the rubber on the road”

The "Open Training" season (meaning open to all riders) begins September 1st and ends on December 31st. After December 31st the team is preparing for race season and working on drills, tactics, and teamwork and will not be having "open rides" until September 1st rolls around.